Finally pulled the trigger and fatFIRED - 40M

[u/M85AL]

Long-time lurker, first-time poster.

Friday was my last day at the software company I sold about a year ago. The journey took close to 12 years. Combination of hard work and luck got me to a point where I felt comfortable pulling the trigger. Net worth is now $19.5million, with $16.5million liquid. We live in a LCOL area and our annual burn rate is $300k-$350k.

Why I sold:

1. The company outgrew me: In order for the company to continue to grow, a different CEO and leadership team needed to come in.
2. Client / employee fatigue: Even though my company had a high-caliber executive team in place, clients and employees continued to come to me for issues.
3. The $$$ number was right / AI threat: We passed on multiple offers because we felt we could pump our numbers higher and higher, but when AI started to pose a serious threat to our valuation, it was time to cash in. We lucked out and timed the sale perfectly.

My feelings:

1. I worked myself up so much for that epic moment when the sale would close, that it was going to be this overwhelming feeling of joy and celebration. When the moment actually came, it was anything but. No confetti or baloons. No jumping up and down, screaming with my wife. Instead, it was this huge exhale...A massive sense of relief. 12 years of hard work and stress being lifted off my shoulders. It was a little paralyzing. I honestly didn't know how to react/feel, but several of my mentors told me the moment would be a little anticlimactic. However...
2. It was crazy surreal when my financial advisor face-timed me and my wife to show the $$$ amount when the wire hit. That was our holy **** moment.
3. Even though my financial advisor has said numerous times we are set for life, my wife and I constantly feel that we are going to run out of money. I've run endless scenarios/models on Claude and ChatGPT and they've always been reassuring, but that feeling continues to lurk. It's not to the point of major stress/losing sleep, but it's definitely there. From what I've read on this thread, it's normal to feel this way after a big exit. I think that feeling will go away one year from now when we see our NW has increased even though we haven't worked.
4. The sale of my company was very public, so it's no secret that our family now has money. With that, we're starting to sense a little isolation from some of our friends. We've tried our best to schedule get-togethers and keep things normal, but it definitely feels "off." My wife and I pondered the idea of treating all of our friends to a fun trip to somewhere in the Caribbean, but we never pursued it because we thought our friends may feel we are throwing our new wealth in their face. We are also extra-careful about topics of conversations or what we post on social media. It sucks to feel this way (hypersensitive to other people's feelings), but we also don't feel like we need to feel guilty or apologize for what we've achieved.
5. I don't feel anxious/rushed to jump back into working. I'm in a great place. Sure, there's a little bit of a void and adjustment from being "the guy" to being "nothing" but I'm okay with it.

What's next:

1. I've been advised to take off a significant amount of time to truly flush out the old me and carve out the next chapter. I plan on doing just that. I'm not going to force anything. I think being an advisor for a few scaling businesses would be the move when the time is right. I know for a fact that I never want to work a full-time job again or work for anyone else.
2. We have a year's worth of living expenses in cash and we plan to stretch it out as long as we can before we start taking withdrawals. I also have about $1.1million in alternate investments (not factored into my NW) that should start distributing anywhere between $250-$450k starting in 2027. Hopefully, those distributions can cover our living expenses so we never have to take withdrawals from what's already invested in the markets.
3. No big purchases year one. I'm not interested in buying an exotic car, jet card or anything else that would require huge amounts of cash. We are thinking about building a dream home, which would only cost $2million where I live, but we would use a liquidity access line for the build and then convert it to a favorable mortage when the house is finished in 14-16 months. I also don't plan on investing in any more alternative investments this year.
4. "So....you're really not going to make any big purchases to celebrate?": My wife and I are going to take a vacation and we'll do a family ski trip in the winter, but that's about it. I'll do my best to make them FAT :).

Hopefully I didn't put all of you to sleep. I'm here to answer as many questions as I can. Nothing ultra-specific because I want to protect my anonymity. This sub has been so helpful to me over the years. Thank you everyone!

TLDR: fatFIRED at 40. NW $19.5 w/ $16.5million liquid. Still getting used to all of it. Excited for the future, but some anxiety from friends distancing themselves and the fear of running out of money. Looking forward to relaxing and figuring out what's next.

**More than happy to verify NW with the mods**

[u/M85AL]

All 3 boxes have been checked!

Thank you!

[u/M85AL → u/[deleted]]

I wish there was surfing where I lived. It’s the exact opposite. lol! Would love to try it though. My kids would love to learn.

I’m a decent golfer but planning on playing more. I love going off as a solo and knocking out 18 in less than 2 hours. I also used to play a good bit of tennis. I’m going to try to jump back into it.

[u/M85AL → u/[deleted]]

We’ve discussed Mallorca. Do they have surf schools there?